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For more information onf the Halifax Explosion and information on this years service please go to:
http://www.halifax.ca/halifaxexplosion/index.html
City Hall became an operational centre in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion on 6 December 1917, caused when the French
munitions vessel, the Mont Blanc, collided with the Imo, a Norwegian-registered vessel carrying relief supplies for Belgium, in
the harbour narrows. Immediately on the collision the Mont Blanc caught fire. At 9:05 she exploded with a devastating blast that
laid waste two square miles in Halifax’s north end and on the Dartmouth side. Over 2000 died in the explosion or later from
injuries.
As Mayor Peter Martin was away, his responsibilities fell on Deputy Mayor Henry Colwell, head of Colwell Brothers, a well known
clothier. On that fateful morning, Henry Colwell was walking from his South Park Street home to his office with friends when
they heard a massive explosion and “The ground came up to meet them”. After determining his family had survived, he realized
he “held the most important position in Halifax”. He reached City Hall at about 9:30 and there he was to remain for the next
four days and nights, virtually with no sleep.
City Hall became the focus for a myriad of relief activities, working through numerous rapidly organized committees. For the
distribution of food, that committee took over the second floor. Emergency housing was run out of the Tax Collector’s Office.
Initially, City Hall served as the headquarters for medical relief. From City Hall volunteers, who were mostly women, organized
the distribution of coal, tar paper, blankets, rubber boots, clothing and cooking oil. An Information Bureau was early established
in the City Clerk’s Office.
Although the explosion’s blast broke nearly every window and created chaos within offices, the exterior suffered little structural
damage. Even the clock tower survived the blast, though the massive old clock, purchased in 1893 from the old Market building,
but apparently not installed until 1904, stopped never to run again.
Next: Unveiling and Dedication of the Cenotaph
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